Newspaper or Landscape Fabric?

We’ve shared this tip before – but with the awesome weather we have had the last couple days it seemed like a good time to mention it again!

My kids helped me weed my flower beds today and I ran up to Lowe’s to get some mulch – but before I lay it down, I’m putting down some newspaper to save myself from weeding anymore this season.

Why Newspaper? Once you’ve spent hours upon hours hunched over hand-weeding a flower bed – you’re in no hurry to do it again. Here’s a little tip I learned from my mom (the greenest thumb I know) about keeping out weeds in your flowerbeds….

Newspaper amends the soil, leaving it soft and loose if it is currently hard and rocky. As the cotton fibers in the paper decompose, it makes your soil richer and softer for next years planting! This hard clay soil here in Tennessee is a prime example of why I need to newspaper my beds.

Get ready to grow a nice crop of earthworms – because they LOVE the layer where the paper meets the soil. And we all know worms are good for your plants – as well as handy on a fishing trip.

Newspaper is FREE – whereas the black landscaping fabric can get costly.

In fact, the landscaping fabric really is evil stuff. You not only will have weeds start growing through the microscopic holes in the fabric (also, many seeds are airborne and will just land on top anyway) – but it’s nearly impossible to pull them out when their roots are under/enmeshed in the fabric (You literally have to CUT the landscaping fabric off the ground to get the weeds out!)

Are you convinced yet? Then let’s get cracking! You’ll need to weed your beds first and then lie down a thick layer of 8-10 sheets of stacked newspaper. (If you run out, wet cardboard will work as well) Cover with a thick layer of mulch (about 3″) and you’ll be weed-free for a few years before you need to lie down anymore!

Comments

This is all my mom has ever used in her garden and flower beds. Here’s a great tip I learned from her: put a stack in your wheelbarrow and fill with water to soak the papers before laying them down. This not only adds moisture, but also keeps the papers where you put them if the day is windy. Lay them on _thick_ and top with donated hay from a farmer – hay he can’t feed his animals due to moisture or contents within the bale like weeds. Regular paper breaks down faster than the slick ads, but both can be used. Stay away from slick magazines. Become the local newspaper recycler for your neighbors who do not garden. They will be happy to donate their read stacks.

If you live in or close to Chattanooga, here’s a money-saving tip:
The City of Chattanooga operates the wood recycling center, which recycles organic yard waste that is collected at the curbside by city collection crews, contractors, and homeowners.
Wood waste from trees and trimmings as well as leaves may be disposed of at the wood recycle center at a standard rate for non-city residents and businesses.

Mulch
Mulch is available at no charge to City of Chattanooga residents when a valid drivers license is presented. City crews will load mulch into trucks or trailers. Residents are limited to a standard size pick-up truck or single axle trailer for free loads of mulch. City of Chattanooga residents may also purchase additional loads at standard rates. Non-city residents will be charged standard rates.

Loads
Mulch will be loaded in any size truck but will not be overloaded and should remain 4-inches below the walls of an open truck bed, trailer, or container. Mulch must be covered by a tarpaulin before leaving the facility.

Standard Rates
Wood Waste Disposal / $20.00 per ton; $20.00 minimum

Mulch / $10.00 per ton; $5.00 minimum
(when you consider that a 3-cubic foot bag can cost $3-5, you see the savings PILE up)

A few years ago, we replanted our front lawn. We laid cardboard over the entire yard then topsoil, fertilizer and grass seed. We got the nicest lawn without all those pesky weeds! This year, I’m using cardboard to rid myself of weeds in flower beds. I find the cardboard easier to work with than newspaper which tends to blow around before I get a chance to get the mulch down.

I have never heard that newspapers cause cancer. Maybe long in the past but not now. Railroad ties were treated with creosote which is bad. I believe you can buy untreated ties. The railroad did not want their ties disintegrating.

Hi, I’m trying to plant an already established flower garden, it has lots of grass coming up. Do I need to dig down, put cardboard, then add back the topsoil and mulch, or just weed it, lay the paper down and cover with mulch…..making holes in the paper for the flowers and shrubs?

I had heard about the newspaper idea so not researching more, we also put black garden fabric down ( can’t remember the name but it isn’t the regular type garden black fabric) cut a hole for each shrub, but didn’t for the marigolds, but we did put miracle grow garden soil in and planted the flowers it that. Will not having the flowers in the earth cause them to die or will the live in the top soil? Thank you.